Can running treat cervical spondylosis?

If a person suffers from cervical spondylosis, it is actually very difficult to cure, because cervical spondylosis, like lumbar spondylosis, is a chronic strain disease. Unless cervical spondylosis surgery is performed, conservative treatment methods can only control cervical spondylosis. Running is a way of exercising that many people choose in their lives. Running can also prevent many physical diseases, but can running be used to treat cervical spondylosis?

If you have cervical spondylosis, is it still suitable for running exercise?

If cervical spondylosis has symptoms of nerve or spinal cord compression, or obvious dizziness, it is not recommended to do physical exercises such as running. Wait until these symptoms are relieved or disappear before doing so.

If you only feel soreness, pain, or numbness in the muscles behind your neck, you can do functional exercises such as running. The principle of exercise is that symptoms should not be aggravated during exercise. Take running as an example. If you feel numbness in your arms while running, you should stop immediately. This means that the nerves or spinal cord are stimulated during exercise. If you feel comfortable and relaxed after running, then this amount of exercise is more appropriate. However, you still need to let your body adjust the amount of exercise based on the principle of not aggravating symptoms.

Can running improve the symptoms of cervical spondylosis?

Running cannot cure cervical spondylosis. It just has a certain improvement effect on the neck. Because running mainly exercises the muscles of the lower limbs and waist. The upper limbs, neck, etc. are just coordinated movements to maintain posture and cooperate with the running process. The degree of exercise for the skeletal muscles of the neck is not great. Moreover, most of the body's blood accumulates in the lower limbs when running, and the corresponding blood improvement in the head and neck is not much. After suffering from cervical spondylosis, it is recommended to swim and play badminton more often, as these are effective exercises to relieve cervical spondylosis.

Severity classification of cervical spondylosis

1. Initial level

When you start to feel mild symptoms such as neck pain, stiff shoulders or back pain, although it has little impact on your work and life and can usually be relieved by a little movement, if you do not adjust in time, it may develop into cervical spondylosis.

It is recommended to keep your waist straight and shoulders back when sitting, try to avoid excessive forward or backward tilt of the head and neck, and keep the bones and joints in a normal shape as much as possible. Get up after working for about 30 minutes and do some activities to relax the cervical spine. You can also do some activities that are beneficial to the cervical spine after work, such as breaststroke, backstroke, etc.

2. General level

If you often suffer from stiff neck or arm weakness accompanied by pain and numbness over a period of time, some people may also experience headaches, dizziness, tinnitus, nausea and other discomforts, and even feel unsteady and stray when walking, which has greatly affected your work and life, then you should be alert to mild cervical spondylosis and seek medical attention in time.

It is recommended to change to a pillow that is moderately soft, has good support, and conforms to the physiological curvature of the cervical spine, so that the neck will be more relaxed after waking up. Be careful not to use an inflatable cotton pillow. Often use methods such as hot compresses, massage, and plasters to help relax the neck muscles and relieve discomfort.

3. Severity level

If you find that your handwriting starts to become crooked, you can't hold your chopsticks steadily and have to use a spoon when eating, or even if you walk with one foot deep and one foot shallow as if you are stepping on cotton, it means that your cervical spondylosis is already very serious and you may need surgery.

If you experience obvious pain, soreness, muscle tightness, or difficulty turning your head in your cervical spine, you must go to a regular hospital for examination and treatment. Never go to a massage parlor for the sake of cheapness and convenience. If the masseur's technique is incorrect, or the massage strength is inappropriate or the massage points are not selected correctly, it will aggravate the pain in the cervical spine and cause the symptoms of cervical spondylosis to become more and more serious.